"Three minutes," Olivia whispers, her voice trembling heavily. Her hands, covered in Alexander’s blood, grip the edge of the table tightly. "Alex, our children."
Alexander stands tall despite the gunshot wound in his right shoulder, blood seeping onto the bandage. His face is pale, but his eyes radiate panic as he moves toward the helicopter’s navigation console.
"Turn back to the rooftop helipad at the Grand Hyatt now!" Alexander commands with a firm tone.
"But Mr. Rington!" The pilot turns, panic etched on his face. "Intelligence reports confirm that the biological gas has reached the thirtieth floor! If we land there, this helicopter’s air filtration system will be contaminated in seconds!"
"Land there or I’ll personally take control of this helicopter myself!" Alexander cuts in coldly.
He turns, gazing at Olivia standing in the cabin. Alexander cups her face with both hands, wiping away tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
Listen to me, Olivia," he says softly, his voice steady yet reassuring. "I won’t let any of our children get hurt, and I won’t let Christian slaughter thousands for his crazy ambitions."
"But how, Alex?" Olivia’s tears burst forth as she cups Alexander’s face. "The building’s cooling system is integrated with the entire structure! You can’t be in two places at once within three minutes!"
"Daniel is on the roof," Alexander replies. "And I have the neutralization serum."
He reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a small titanium vial filled with a clear, single-dose serum—the antidote he secured from Eleanora’s secret lab in Zurich before the cathedral collapsed.
"This serum can neutralize the agent if injected directly into the building’s central air compressor valve," Alexander explains. "But this dose is only enough to filter the main flow."
"And what about Ethan and Stella in Griya Tawang?!" Olivia demands.
"The panic room’s isolation system has a standalone oxygen tank for fifteen minutes," Alexander says, looking into Olivia’s eyes. "But the manual shutoff valve must be activated from outside the biometric door before the gas leaks through secondary gaps."
Olivia’s eyes widen as she realizes the implications. "You want me to go to Griya Tawang while you go down to the basement compressor valve?"
"Only you have the retinal biometric access to shut the secondary valve, Olivia," Alexander whispers, planting a warm, burning kiss on her forehead. "Trust me. Protect our children, and I’ll follow you."
Olivia clenches her fists tightly, nodding firmly through her tears. "Don’t you dare die in that building, Alex."
The emergency medic helicopter lands on the slick rooftop helipad of the Grand Hyatt, rain pouring down and blood pooling on the wet surface. The rotor blades spin fiercely, releasing dark vapor from the exhaust vents.
Alexander jumps out, firing a low-caliber tactical rifle that hits Leo’s knee, causing the child replica to slump stiffly onto the concrete.
"Daniel! Secure Olivia and head to Griya Tawang!" Alexander yells, tossing a military respirator mask to Daniel. "Lock the secondary valve in the safe room now!"
Daniel quickly assesses the situation, catching Olivia as she jumps out of the helicopter cabin. "And you, Alex?!"
"I’m heading down to the main compressor in the basement!"
Without waiting for a response, Alexander charges into the emergency door at the rooftop, disappearing into the smoky stairwell that begins to fill with sharp sulfur fumes.
Daniel guides Olivia through the upper floors toward Griya Tawang, as toxic gas begins creeping up through the building’s pillars.
The compressor room is four levels below ground. It’s dark, stuffy, echoing with the roar of massive turbines pumping air to the hundreds of floors above.
Alexander leaps over the steel stairs, his breath growing ragged. The effects of the sedative on his shoulder wound are fading, replaced by a burning pain that spreads through his chest. His respirator’s indicator glows faint green, showing thirty percent remaining.
Black smoke fills the main compressor chamber, drastically limiting visibility.
Alexander approaches the massive high-pressure compressor tank at the center of the room. His bloodied fingers move quickly over the manual control panel, opening the emergency injection valve to insert the titanium antidote serum.
"Impressive, my brother."
A cold, gravelly voice echoes through the internal speakers of the compressor room, cutting through the turbine noise.
Alexander freezes briefly, then continues pressing the code to open the valve. "Julian."
From behind the thick black smoke at the end of the compressor corridor, a man in tactical gear steps out calmly. He wears a transparent face shield. Behind the mask, Julian Rington’s scarred face, blackened by burns, is visible, with his left eye glowing with a synthetic red reaction from the chemical toxin!
Julian holds a remote detonator with a blinking red light.
"You’ve always been a tragic hero, Alexander," Julian says with a dry chuckle, his steps echoing on the metal floor. "You bet your life on injecting that serum, knowing full well I’ve locked this main valve with a C4 explosive."
Alexander inserts the titanium serum into the compressor’s injection port. "This serum will spread through the entire air system in ten seconds after injection. Your plan to blow up the city fails, Julian."
"Fail?!" Julian screams hysterically, his eyes wide with madness. "The gas dispersal in this building is just a distraction, Alexander! Do you know why I let Christian and Victoria take that clone into the ballroom?!"
Alex’s heartbeat quickens. "What do you mean?"
"Cloning Leo isn’t just about physical weaponry!" Julian shouts, raising the detonator. "Inside that clone’s blood vessel, there’s a brainwave transmitter connected directly to microchips in Ethan and Stella’s necks!"
The world around Alexander suddenly shatters.
"When the compressor explodes," Julian continues with a monstrous grin, "the neural shock signals will be wirelessly transmitted from Leo’s body, triggering instant brain hemorrhages in your two children in Griya Tawang!"
"You devil!" Alexander screams, raising his tactical rifle and aiming it straight at Julian’s head.
His bullet pierces Julian’s shoulder, but the man, used to enduring the effects of the synthetic poison, doesn’t fall. With a wild laugh echoing through the compressor room, Julian presses the bomb button on the detonator!
A massive explosion tears through the basement compressor! The shockwave blast throws Alexander’s body against the steel wall, his weapon flying far into the flames.
The main compressor pipes burst apart. The titanium antidote serum sprays out, mixing with black smoke and towering flames that engulf the underground ceiling.
Upstairs, in Griya Tawang.
Olivia has just sealed the secondary valve of the panic room door. But just as she embraces Ethan and Stella, the two children suddenly scream hysterically, clutching their heads!
"Mommy! It hurts!" Ethan and Stella cry, writhing on the floor as fresh blood suddenly flows from their tiny noses!
"ETHAN! STELLA!" Olivia screams in panic, clutching her children in desperation.
Julian steps toward the weakened Alexander, raising his military boot and stomping hard into Alexander’s wounded chest.
"The game’s over, Alexander," Julian whispers coldly, brandishing a toxic tactical knife toward his brother’s neck. "Your children are dying upstairs, and you’re going to die here with me."
Alexander looks into Julian’s red eyes, spitting blood from his mouth. But beneath his physical weakness, Alexander’s hidden left hand suddenly grabs a high-voltage power cable disconnected from the main turbine network.
With a reckless, unexpected move, Alexander slams the live wire into Julian’s wet, chemical-soaked body!
A brilliant blue arc of lightning erupts! Julian screams loudly as the massive current fries his nervous system, throwing his body against the compressor pipe, which explodes again!
Julian collapses stiffly in the flames, convulsing before freezing unmoving.
Alexander crawls with his remaining strength, grabbing the signal neutralizer transmitter that was thrown from Julian’s pocket. His trembling hand, his vision increasingly blurred, presses the global frequency cancel code.
Inside Griya Tawang, Ethan and Stella’s screams suddenly cease. Their nosebleeds stop, and both children faint, limp in Olivia’s tearful embrace.
Alexander leans against a blazing pillar, his lungs burning from inhaling toxic fumes. His consciousness gradually fades into darkness.
But just before he loses awareness, a commanding figure steps out from the shadows of the burning compressor room.
A woman in a pure white evening gown and a porcelain mask with gold accents kneels beside Alexander’s weakened body. She checks his neck for a pulse.
The masked woman pulls out an ancient satellite device, activating an encrypted transmission line at the highest level, undetected by any intelligence network worldwide.
"Subject Alexander Rington has been neutralized," her voice is smooth, cold, and deadly charming, speaking fluent French. "Send the evacuation team of the De La Croix Clan now. The princess is waiting for your arrival in Paris."